The Black Rat Snake is the largest snake in Virginia, growing up to eight feet long. It is mostly black, with some white showing between its scales. The belly is also white. Black Rat Snakes are found in forests, fields, marshes, and farmland. In the Spring and Fall, these snakes are very active during the day; in the Summer they are more active at night.Rat Snakes are skillfull climbers. They will climb high in trees to find prey. They will also hide in old woodpecker holes. Black Rat Snakes are known to climb rafters in barns and similar buildings. Rat snakes eat birds, eggs, lizards, frogs, other snakes, chipmunks, squirrels, small rabbits, mice, rats, bats (see photo to the left), voles, shrews, and other small mammals.
http://www.boatips.com/cornsnakes/ Corn Snake (Elaphe guttata) Corn snake is one of the most popular pet snakes because they are usually under five feet long. It is generally found from southern New Jersey to Virginia, with their main range from North Carolina to the Florida Keys and west to eastern Louisiana and southern Tennessee. There is also a disjunct population in Kentucky. Although found throughout our region. Corn snakes are found in upland, terrestrial habitats that are relatively dry, exposed.Corn snakes are rodent feeders. As juveniles, they require baby or pinky mice. Corn snakes are usually strong, avid feeders and should be fed every 7-14 days. Adults will readily accept full-grown mice or small rats.
http://www.hiltonpond.org/thisweek050322.html Northern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans) The northern cricket frog is widespread throughout the central and southeastern United States. Its body color is variable and can be brown, green, or tan with black, yellow, orange, or red markings. Northern cricket frogs have numerous bumps on their back, a green or brown triangle between their eyes, and dark bands on their thighs.Their primary diet is small 0.5 inches to 1.5 inches long insects, including mosquitos. They in turn are predated upon by a number of species, including bird, fish and other frogs.
http://www2.dnr.cornell.edu/cek7/current_research.htm Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) One of the Brook Trout's distinguishing characteristics is the white leading edge on the pectoral, pelvic, and anal fins. The rest of the fins are yellowish or reddish. It is the only native trout to Ohio and can be found along the southeastern rivers. They need to live their entire life in clean fresh waters.Its diverse diet includes crustaceans, frogs and other amphibians and insects, smaller fish, invertebrates, and even small aquatic mammals such as voles. It provides food for seabirds and suffers attack by lampreys. The brook trout is a short-lived species, rarely surviving beyond four or five years in the wild.
http://www.outdooralabama.com/watchable-wildlife/what/Amphibians/Salamanders/gs.cfm Green salamander (Aneides aeneus) The main distribution of Green salamanders extends from western North Carolina through westernSouth Carolina, and into northwestern Georgia.In North Carolina, Green salamanders typically inhabit moist, shady crevices in cliffs and rock faces. In North Carolina, the green salamander is found only in a small mountainous region in the southwestern corner of the state. The green salamander’s diet is largely a mystery to science although they are believed to feed primarily on invertebrates both in and around their rocky homes and up in the surrounding trees. Green salamanders can live up to 10 years in the wild.
Mallard Duck (Anas platyrhychos) - Wes Upham
Ducks are found all over the earth because they have been heavily domesticated. Mallard ducks are typical found in an body of freshwater in North America, the enjoy calm wetlands such as lakes and ponds. Ducks are considered primary and secondary consumers because they eat producers such as berries and nuts, but they also eat secondary consumers such as small fish and insects.
Wild Turkey's are found throughout North America. They are typically found in forested areas and open grasslands. Wild turkeys are found throughout Asheville and are sometimes seen crossing the street! They usually eat whatever they can find on the forest floor which make them primary and secondary consumers. They eat insects, berries, nuts, and occasionally small mammals. http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wildlife/Wildlife_images/turkey_Joe-Blake.jpg
Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) - Wes Upham
Red Foxes live in mostly temperate areas. They usually stay away from wetlands, but enjoy dry grasslands and temperate forests throughout North America. Foxes are usually found near urban areas because they can find more game rather than in rural areas. Foxes typically prey on smal mammals such as squirrels, rodents, and rabbits. They are also known to eat small fish, frogs, and worms.
The gray bat lives in limestone caves throughout the Appalachian mountains as well as in the heartland. They usually live in caves and hibernate through the winter months. They usually leave the cave and go to wetland areas to find food. They feed on a large number of small insects. Gray Bats have recently become endangered. Strip mining, cave destruction have all contributed to gray bats dying off. Human disturbance can also wake bats during hibernation and cause them to die of lack of food. Humans can also scare mothers that are nursing which causes them to drop there young which are unable to fend for themselves. Pesticides have also contaminated the insects that they typically feed on.
Opossums are known to be dirty scavengers among most people. Well, they are, they mostly live in urban areas because trash and scavenging is there major food source. You can usually find Opossums in any heavily urbanized area in North America. The eat basically anything they can find, but they also eat insects, small reptiles and nuts.
Eastern Hognose snake (Heterodon platirhinos) When threatened, the neck is flattened and the head is raised off the ground, not unlike a cobra. They also hiss and will strike but they do not attempt to bite, the result can be likened to a high speed head-butt. If this threat display does not work to deter a would-be predator, hognose snakes will often roll onto their back and play dead, going so far as to emit a foul musk from their cloaca and let their tongue hang out of their mouth. The Eastern hognose snake feeds extensively on amphibians, preferably toads. This snake has an immunity to the toxins toads secrete. This immunity comes from their having excessively enlarged adrenal glands which secrete large amounts of hormones to counteract the toads' powerful skin poisons. They have greatly enlarged teeth, not hollow nor grooved, at the rear of each upper jaw, with which they puncture and deflate toads to be able to swallow them whole. They will also consume other amphibians, like frogs and salamanders.
Northern water snake (Nerodia sipedon)
The Northern water snake can grow up to 135 cm (4.4 ft) long. They can be brown, gray, reddish, or brownish-black. They have dark crossbands on their necks and dark stripes and blotches on the rest of their bodies, often leading to misidentification as cottonmouths or copperheads by novices. They darken as they age. Some will become almost completely black. The belly of this snake also varies in color. It can be white, yellow, or gray. Usually it also has reddish or black crescents.Northern water snakes have many predators, including birds, raccoons, opossums, foxes, snapping turtles, and other snakes. They defend themselves vigorously when they are threatened. If they are picked up by an animal, or person, they will bite repeatedly, as well as release excrement and musk. Their saliva contains a mild anticoagulant, which can cause the bite to bleed more but poses little risk to humans.
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) The Red-tailed Hawk is a bird of prey, one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the "chickenhawk," though it rarely preys on standard sized chickens. It breeds throughout most of North America, from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies, and is one of the most common buteos in North America. Red-tailed Hawks can acclimate to all the biomes within its range. There are fourteen recognized subspecies, which vary in appearance and range. It is one of the largest members of the genus Buteo in North America, typically weighing from 690 to 1600 grams (1.5 to 3.5 pounds) and measuring 45–65 cm (18 to 26 in) in length, with a wingspan from 110 to 145 cm (43 to 57 in). The Red-tailed Hawk displays sexual dimorphism in size, with females averaging about 25% heavier than males.
Turkey Vulture(Cathartes aura) The Turkey Vulture also known in some North American regions as the turkey buzzard (or just buzzard), and in some areas of the Caribbean as the John crow or carrion crow, is the most widespread of the New World vultures. One of three species in the genus Cathartes, in the family Cathartidae, the Turkey Vulture ranges from southern Canada to the southernmost tip of South America. It inhabits a variety of open and semi-open areas, including subtropical forests, shrublands, pastures, and deserts.It, like all new world "vultures", is not a "true vulture" in the sense of being related to the Old World vultures of Europe, Africa, and Asia. It looks nearly identical because of convergent evolution, where natural selection similarly shapes unrelated animals adapting to the same conditions.The Turkey Vulture is a scavenger and feeds almost exclusively on carrion.It finds its food using its keen eyes and sense of smell, flying low enough to detect the gases produced by the beginnings of the process of decay in dead animals. In flight, it uses thermals to move through the air, flapping its wings infrequently. It roosts in large community groups. Lacking a syrinx—the vocal organ of birds—its only vocalizations are grunts or low hisses.It nests in caves, hollow trees, or thickets. Each year it generally raises two chicks, which it feeds by regurgitation.It has very few natural predators. In the United States of America, the vulture receives legal protection under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.
Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) The Great Horned Owls are heavily built, barrel-shaped birds, and have large heads and broad wings. Adults have large ear tufts and are the only very large owl in their range to have them. The facial disc is reddish, brown or gray in color and there is a variable sized white patch on the throat. The iris is yellow, except the amber-eyed South American Great Horned Owl (B. V. nacurutu). Its "horns" are neither ears nor horns, simply tufts of feathers. The underparts are usually light with some brown barring; the upper parts are generally mottled brown. Most subspecies are barred along the sides as well. The legs and feet are covered in feathers up to the talons, with some black skin peaking out from around the talons. The feet and talons are distinctly large and powerful and only other Bubo owls have comparable formidable feet. There are individual and regional variations in color; birds from the sub-Arctic are a washed-out, light-buff color, while those from Central America can be a dark chocolate brown.
Daniel Li
North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) - Libby Malinowski
The North American river otter is found in rivers, lakes, and swamp ecosystems throughout southeastern and northwestern North America and throughout Canada. Its diet consists of mainly fish, but also amphibians, crayfish, turtles and small rodents.
The coyote is found throughout the United Sates, Central America, and Canada. Its diet consists of deer, frogs, fish, rodents, snakes, rabbits, grass, and various fruits.
The black bear is found throughout Canada, in the Appalachian mountains, northern California, central-western America, and in mountainous regions of southwest America. It's diet consists of grasses, roots, berries, insects, and small mammals, especially fish.
Ting Yi
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/black_rat_snake.htm
Black Rat Snake(Pantherophis obsoletus)
Black Rat Snakes are found in forests, fields, marshes, and farmland. In the Spring and Fall, these snakes are very active during the day; in the Summer they are more active at night.Rat Snakes are skillfull climbers. They will climb high in trees to find prey. They will also hide in old woodpecker holes. Black Rat Snakes are known to climb rafters in barns and similar buildings. Rat snakes eat birds, eggs, lizards, frogs, other snakes, chipmunks, squirrels, small rabbits, mice, rats, bats (see photo to the left), voles, shrews, and other small mammals.
http://www.boatips.com/cornsnakes/
Corn Snake (Elaphe guttata)
Corn snake is one of the most popular pet snakes because they are usually under five feet long. It is generally found from southern New Jersey to Virginia, with their main range from North Carolina to the Florida Keys and west to eastern Louisiana and southern Tennessee. There is also a disjunct population in Kentucky. Although found throughout our region. Corn snakes are found in upland, terrestrial habitats that are relatively dry, exposed.Corn snakes are rodent feeders. As juveniles, they require baby or pinky mice. Corn snakes are usually strong, avid feeders and should be fed every 7-14 days. Adults will readily accept full-grown mice or small rats.
http://www.hiltonpond.org/thisweek050322.html
Northern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans)
The northern cricket frog is widespread throughout the central and southeastern United States. Its body color is variable and can be brown, green, or tan with black, yellow, orange, or red markings. Northern cricket frogs have numerous bumps on their back, a green or brown triangle between their eyes, and dark bands on their thighs.Their primary diet is small 0.5 inches to 1.5 inches long insects, including mosquitos. They in turn are predated upon by a number of species, including bird, fish and other frogs.
http://www2.dnr.cornell.edu/cek7/current_research.htm
Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
One of the Brook Trout's distinguishing characteristics is the white leading edge on the pectoral, pelvic, and anal fins. The rest of the fins are yellowish or reddish. It is the only native trout to Ohio and can be found along the southeastern rivers. They need to live their entire life in clean fresh waters.Its diverse diet includes crustaceans, frogs and other amphibians and insects, smaller fish, invertebrates, and even small aquatic mammals such as voles. It provides food for seabirds and suffers attack by lampreys. The brook trout is a short-lived species, rarely surviving beyond four or five years in the wild.
http://www.outdooralabama.com/watchable-wildlife/what/Amphibians/Salamanders/gs.cfm
Green salamander (Aneides aeneus)
The main distribution of Green salamanders extends from western North Carolina through westernSouth Carolina, and into northwestern Georgia.In North Carolina, Green salamanders typically inhabit moist, shady crevices in cliffs and rock faces. In North Carolina, the green salamander is found only in a small mountainous region in the southwestern corner of the state.
The green salamander’s diet is largely a mystery to science although they are believed to feed primarily on invertebrates both in and around their rocky homes and up in the surrounding trees. Green salamanders can live up to 10 years in the wild.
Mallard Duck (Anas platyrhychos) - Wes Upham
Ducks are found all over the earth because they have been heavily domesticated. Mallard ducks are typical found in an body of freshwater in North America, the enjoy calm wetlands such as lakes and ponds. Ducks are considered primary and secondary consumers because they eat producers such as berries and nuts, but they also eat secondary consumers such as small fish and insects.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/mallard_glam.jpg
Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) - Wes Upham
Wild Turkey's are found throughout North America. They are typically found in forested areas and open grasslands. Wild turkeys are found throughout Asheville and are sometimes seen crossing the street! They usually eat whatever they can find on the forest floor which make them primary and secondary consumers. They eat insects, berries, nuts, and occasionally small mammals.
http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wildlife/Wildlife_images/turkey_Joe-Blake.jpg
Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) - Wes Upham
Red Foxes live in mostly temperate areas. They usually stay away from wetlands, but enjoy dry grasslands and temperate forests throughout North America. Foxes are usually found near urban areas because they can find more game rather than in rural areas. Foxes typically prey on smal mammals such as squirrels, rodents, and rabbits. They are also known to eat small fish, frogs, and worms.
http://www.rrsd.mb.ca/EricksonElem/sokoloski/Social%20New/canadian%20animals/fox3.jpg
Gray Bat (Myotis grisecens) - Wes Upham
The gray bat lives in limestone caves throughout the Appalachian mountains as well as in the heartland. They usually live in caves and hibernate through the winter months. They usually leave the cave and go to wetland areas to find food. They feed on a large number of small insects. Gray Bats have recently become endangered. Strip mining, cave destruction have all contributed to gray bats dying off. Human disturbance can also wake bats during hibernation and cause them to die of lack of food. Humans can also scare mothers that are nursing which causes them to drop there young which are unable to fend for themselves. Pesticides have also contaminated the insects that they typically feed on.
http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/wildlifemgmt/endangered/gray_bat.htm
http://www.grandlakebusinessjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/GRAY-BAT.jpg
Opossum (Didelphia virginiana) - Wes Upham
Opossums are known to be dirty scavengers among most people. Well, they are, they mostly live in urban areas because trash and scavenging is there major food source. You can usually find Opossums in any heavily urbanized area in North America. The eat basically anything they can find, but they also eat insects, small reptiles and nuts.
http://www.247wildlife.com/photos/opossum002.jpg
Daniel Li
Eastern Hognose snake (Heterodon platirhinos)
When threatened, the neck is flattened and the head is raised off the ground, not unlike a cobra. They also hiss and will strike but they do not attempt to bite, the result can be likened to a high speed head-butt. If this threat display does not work to deter a would-be predator, hognose snakes will often roll onto their back and play dead, going so far as to emit a foul musk from their cloaca and let their tongue hang out of their mouth. The Eastern hognose snake feeds extensively on amphibians, preferably toads. This snake has an immunity to the toxins toads secrete. This immunity comes from their having excessively enlarged adrenal glands which secrete large amounts of hormones to counteract the toads' powerful skin poisons. They have greatly enlarged teeth, not hollow nor grooved, at the rear of each upper jaw, with which they puncture and deflate toads to be able to swallow them whole. They will also consume other amphibians, like frogs and salamanders.
Northern water snake (Nerodia sipedon)
The Northern water snake can grow up to 135 cm (4.4 ft) long. They can be brown, gray, reddish, or brownish-black. They have dark crossbands on their necks and dark stripes and blotches on the rest of their bodies, often leading to misidentification as cottonmouths or copperheads by novices. They darken as they age. Some will become almost completely black. The belly of this snake also varies in color. It can be white, yellow, or gray. Usually it also has reddish or black crescents.Northern water snakes have many predators, including birds, raccoons, opossums, foxes, snapping turtles, and other snakes. They defend themselves vigorously when they are threatened. If they are picked up by an animal, or person, they will bite repeatedly, as well as release excrement and musk. Their saliva contains a mild anticoagulant, which can cause the bite to bleed more but poses little risk to humans.
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
The Red-tailed Hawk is a bird of prey, one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the "chickenhawk," though it rarely preys on standard sized chickens. It breeds throughout most of North America, from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies, and is one of the most common buteos in North America. Red-tailed Hawks can acclimate to all the biomes within its range. There are fourteen recognized subspecies, which vary in appearance and range. It is one of the largest members of the genus Buteo in North America, typically weighing from 690 to 1600 grams (1.5 to 3.5 pounds) and measuring 45–65 cm (18 to 26 in) in length, with a wingspan from 110 to 145 cm (43 to 57 in). The Red-tailed Hawk displays sexual dimorphism in size, with females averaging about 25% heavier than males.
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
The Turkey Vulture also known in some North American regions as the turkey buzzard (or just buzzard), and in some areas of the Caribbean as the John crow or carrion crow, is the most widespread of the New World vultures. One of three species in the genus Cathartes, in the family Cathartidae, the Turkey Vulture ranges from southern Canada to the southernmost tip of South America. It inhabits a variety of open and semi-open areas, including subtropical forests, shrublands, pastures, and deserts.It, like all new world "vultures", is not a "true vulture" in the sense of being related to the Old World vultures of Europe, Africa, and Asia. It looks nearly identical because of convergent evolution, where natural selection similarly shapes unrelated animals adapting to the same conditions.The Turkey Vulture is a scavenger and feeds almost exclusively on carrion.It finds its food using its keen eyes and sense of smell, flying low enough to detect the gases produced by the beginnings of the process of decay in dead animals. In flight, it uses thermals to move through the air, flapping its wings infrequently. It roosts in large community groups. Lacking a syrinx—the vocal organ of birds—its only vocalizations are grunts or low hisses.It nests in caves, hollow trees, or thickets. Each year it generally raises two chicks, which it feeds by regurgitation.It has very few natural predators. In the United States of America, the vulture receives legal protection under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.
Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)
The Great Horned Owls are heavily built, barrel-shaped birds, and have large heads and broad wings. Adults have large ear tufts and are the only very large owl in their range to have them. The facial disc is reddish, brown or gray in color and there is a variable sized white patch on the throat. The iris is yellow, except the amber-eyed South American Great Horned Owl (B. V. nacurutu). Its "horns" are neither ears nor horns, simply tufts of feathers. The underparts are usually light with some brown barring; the upper parts are generally mottled brown. Most subspecies are barred along the sides as well. The legs and feet are covered in feathers up to the talons, with some black skin peaking out from around the talons. The feet and talons are distinctly large and powerful and only other Bubo owls have comparable formidable feet. There are individual and regional variations in color; birds from the sub-Arctic are a washed-out, light-buff color, while those from Central America can be a dark chocolate brown.
Daniel Li
North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) - Libby Malinowski
http://www.otternet.com/galleries/naotter/AmericanRiverOtter_01-Swimming-s2.jpg
The North American river otter is found in rivers, lakes, and swamp ecosystems throughout southeastern and northwestern North America and throughout Canada. Its diet consists of mainly fish, but also amphibians, crayfish, turtles and small rodents.
Coyote (Canis latrans) - Libby Malinowski
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/coyote/
The coyote is found throughout the United Sates, Central America, and Canada. Its diet consists of deer, frogs, fish, rodents, snakes, rabbits, grass, and various fruits.
Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) - Libby Malinowki
http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf/
The gray wolf is found in southeastern American mountains and Canada.
Its diet consists of large hoofed animals, such as elk, deer, caribou, and moose; they also eat beaver, rabbits, and other small mammals.
Bobcat (Felis rufus) - Libby Malinowski
http://dnr.md.gov/huntersguide/bobcat_fisher.asp
The bobcat can be found throughout America, excluding the northeast and north central areas. Its diet consist of rabbits, birds, mice, and squirrels.
Black Bear (Ursus americanus) - Libby Malinowski
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=blackbear.main
The black bear is found throughout Canada, in the Appalachian mountains, northern California, central-western America, and in mountainous regions of southwest America. It's diet consists of grasses, roots, berries, insects, and small mammals, especially fish.